Automatic air-feed control for rock drills



H. i. STAGE. AUTOMATIC AIR FEED CONTROL FOR ROCK DRILLS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. i5, 192].

Patented Feb 21, 1922.

' tion ai U1 JERSEY CITY,

EATAU To all 10/: 0m it may concern: 7

Be it known that l, HanoLn l. S'IAGE, a

citizen-0f the United States and a resideni,

of Easton,Northampton County, State of lennsylvania, have invented a certain Autothe feeding; element which adinnces the 1112b chine. The invention is es mciall applicable to a stope drill. although it may advantageously used in connection with drillers and other types of rock drills for drilling horizontal and down holes, provided with an independent rotation motor.

In operating a slope drill for instance, which may he taken as an illustrative c);- aznple, if :1- soft spot is encountered, the power of the air iced should ordinarily be reduced, but lull rotation and hammer power retained, or it possible. increased rotation should he prorln ed, to enable the niarhine to operate in the n'iostr cilicicnt manner.

These variations in the air teed control have heretofore been cflcctcd oy hand lo suit the conditions f the wo and one object ot'the present invention isl'o enable the air feeding olrn'icnt to he automatically controlled suhstctntially without hand regular the drilling: is started.

i"inot-l1cJ- objecl is to cll'rct such control by automatic means responsive to the resistance to the rotation for auton'iativallv varying the pressure in the air iced cylinder of the feeding: clement.

ln accordan cc with my invention, l have devised uutoinallic means preferably responsive to the speed of the rotathhi motor for controlling the air 'locd. Such regulating means are also responsive to the pressure in the motor and thus may he said to he responsivc to or affected by the torque of the increases and the rotation motor slows down, the pressure in the motor increases and 1 ani enabled to automatically control the air feed of the machine and the prrwer of the motor in. accordance with such changes in torque.

Automatic regulation and control of the air feed renders the machine more sensitive to drilling conditions than can be obtained Specification of Letters Patent.

filed February 16, 1921.

.. OF EASTON, PEIQ'NSYLVANLQ, .ASSIGNQR T0 KNGEEEJQLL-ELAND NEW J Ac CORP-GRATION 0}? NEW JERSEY} AIR-FEED CQITTROL IEUH ROCK 13 31111175.

niciii'ed Fell) 2i, Serial No, kl-5,483.

with hand control and the machine will respond automatically to the requiremenls more quickly than with hand control. This tends o avoid sticking, but ii the steel does stick, my automatic devices have been found to quickly free the steel in cases in which the steel cannot be freed by manual adjustments of the motor and air feed, because the automatic devices have proved to he more cl'lective and bc'lter nilapt the machine to its work than hu nin'agencies.

Since the operator is not required to lreep one hand on the rotation handle, nor adjust controlling valves to control the air feed. he may stand aside in using a slope drill for instance, and he is not subjected to the annoyance nd discomfort of dripping sludge and cleaning Water the case o'l wet drilling, which is a material advantage for the operator. v

Further ohjccts of the invention will hereinafter appear and the invention is illustr: ted in one of its preferred forms in the accompnnving drawings in which,

,lfiigure 1 is a side elevation, partly in verv ti'oal section of a slope drill illustrating the invention V Figure is a detail diagrammatic hori zontal sectional view through the rotation motor on the line of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view taken through vices showin the automatic controlling valve in a di. erent position from that indicated in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings a stope drill is'illustratcd' in the figures having a cylinder A and front head B provided with the rotation sleeve C through which the drill steel D extends in position to receive the impact hlows oi the hammer ill} independent iiuid actuated rotation motor is shown in this instance for rotating the drill steel, a gear niotor hcin indicated having the gears l, only one of which shown in Figure 1, in the motor casing formed by the back end portion. G of the cylinder. I The head. block G is shown located l oween the cylinder portion G and the fluid pressure feed cylinder l1 havin pis'l onll and piston rod K provided v -19 rock engaging claw L. The feed: cylindc s preferably slidahly hut non-rotetahly connected to the piston by the controlling dc- 8 suitable means. One of the gears F and theincrease the power of the motor and at the motor is operatively connected through a suitable shaft 0 and pinion P meshing with the gear Q on the rotation sleeve C for rotating the drill steel; The cylinder A, back end portion or motor casing G, head block G and feed. cylinder H are adapted to be held together by any suitable means (not shown).

Fluid pressure, as live air, is supplied to the machine through thethrottle valve R, and passes through the admission port S controlled by the throttle, to the percussive element and also through the small port T to the feed cylinder. Fluid also passes to the rotation motor through'the valve chamher U and the admission port V controlled in this instance by substantially the same automatic regulating valve WV which forms the subject matter of an application for patent, Serial No. 361,758, filed February 27, 1920, by Lewis C. Bayles, and Fred M. Slater. This valve l/V need not be further described, than to say that it is provided with a tapered and fluted head X which graduates the admission of fluid pressure to the rotation motor, and increased back pressure from the motor, due for instance to resistance to rotation, through the port Y on the plunger head Z, assisted by the light spring a, tends to open the valve wider and admit more pressure to the motor as required. A corresponding reduction of pressure on the plunger head Z, due to increased speed of the motor, permits the tapered head X of the valve to move inward against the light spring pressure and reduce the supply of the motor as required. The automatic Valve shown is merely to be taken as an illustrative example and I am not to be understood as limiting the invention to any particular type of valve.

The plunger head Z of the valve W may conveniently be separated from the body of the valve by a slight distance on the valve stem 25 to afford a suitable space in the wall of the valve casing for the location of a passage 0 leading from the air feed cylinder II to the valve chamber, and also affording a location for the atmospheric port d which communicates with the passage 0 when said passage is uncovered by the valve W. The valve W controls the relief passage 0, which is shown closed in Figure 1 and open in Figure 2, in which latter case the pressure in the air feed cylinder is automatically relieved.

In'the operation of the device, sufficient resistance to rotation producing increased torque in the motor, increases the pressure in the admission side of the motor, which causes the valve to move outwardly as shown, or to a more widely open position, and this opening movement is sufficient in accordsame time uncover the assage c and relieve the pressure in the air eed cylinder H until the drill steel has worked free again or until the resistance to rotation has reduced, so that the valve W may automatically return to position for normal running with full air feed pressure. Such automatic operation and drilling will continue even when the gauge of the drill steel has worn down to a 7 degree which would ordinarily render the steel useless, prevent rotation due to sticking and require the insertion of a new and sharp steel with full gauge.

I claim:

1. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of means for rotating the drill steel, means for feeding the steel, and means responsive to the resistance to rotation for automatically controlling the feeding means.

2. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of means for rotating the drill steel, pressure actuated means, for feeding the steel, and means responsive to the re-. sistance to rotation for automatically controlling the-pressure in the feeding means.

3. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of means for rotating the drill steel, an air feeding element comprises a cylinder and piston for advancing the machine and means responsive to the resistance to rotation for automatically controlling the pressure in the air feed cylinder.

4. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of an independent motor for rotating the drill steel, an air feeding element comprises a cylinder and piston for advancing the machine, and means responsive to the resistance to rotation for automatically controlling the pressure in the air feed cylinder.

5. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of an independent motor for rotating the drill steel, an air feeding element comprises a cylinder and piston for advancing the machine, and means responsive to the speed of the motor for automatically controlling the pressure in the air feed cylinder.

6. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of an independent motor ttor rotating the drill steel, an air feeding element. comprises a cylinder and piston for advancing the machine, and means responsive to the pressure in the motor for automaticallv controlling the pressure in the air cylinder. 1. a

8. In a rock drill of the hammer type, the combination of an independent motor for rotating the drill steel, an air feeding element comprises a cylinder and piston for advancing the maclune, a prexurc actuated. valve for automatically controlling the power delivered to the motor in accordance specification.

HAEULD I. Ea'TAGt-E, 

